In this video, I'll discuss running the PowerChute Network shut down,
setup wizard.
PowerChute will be configured to work with a vCenter server and two VMware
ES61 hosts.
Prior to starting this video, I have installed
the PowerChute network shut down virtual appliance on a VMware host.
If you need assistance with installing PowerChute network
shut down in virtual appliance, please see Schneider Electric FAQ FA 296461.
Please note that the setup wizard is the same,
whether I've installed PowerChute on a standalone Windows server that
will be configured to work with VMware, or if I've
installed the PowerChute network shut down
virtual appliance on a VMware host.
After installing the virtual appliance, when I first viewed the console,
I see that I need to browse to the IP address 10.218.45.217:4567
to access the setup wizard.
The IP address 10.218.45.217 is the IP address
that my DHCP server assigned to this virtual machine.
6547 is the port that PowerChute network shutdown communicates on.
To access the setup wizard, I'll open a new browser tab
and enter the virtual machine's IP address.
And the port 6547.
When my browser first accesses PowerChute network shut down,
I am warned that my connection is not private.
This is because PowerChute network shutdown creates a security certificate
that the browser is not familiar with.
I must accept that security certificate to be able to continue.
So I'll click Advanced, Proceed to the IP address.
Now I will see the setup wizard.
I'm told in the first window that PowerChute network shut down
must be configured with the details of the network management card or cards
in the UPS's providing power.
PowerChute cannot monitor the UPS's for critical events until the setup has
been completed.
So I'll click Next to continue.
In this window, I'm asked to select my network configuration.
My options are IPv4 or IPv6.
A description of each is available in the PowerChute network shutdown user's
guide, or by clicking on the question mark
in the upper right hand corner, which will launch the help files.
Please note that if my virtual machine had multiple IP addresses, when
I click Next, I would see a window similar to this,
where I would be allowed to select the IP address that I would
assign to PowerChute network shut down.
My virtual machine does not have multiple IP addresses,
so when I click Next, that window will not appear.
I'm now asked to configure PowerChute to work with a standalone VMware host
or a host managed by vCenter server.
If I were to select the standalone VMware host and click Next,
I'm asked to enter the host IP address, the host username, and the host
password.
I'm also given the options of host protocol, whether it's HTTPS or HTTP.
I will go back, because I will be configuring
with a host managed by vCenter server.
So I will select hosts managed by vCenter server and click Next.
In this window, as in the previous one for a single host,
I'm given the options to select HTTPS or HTTP and the port that will be used.
I'm also asked to enter the IP address or the hostname of the vCenter server.
I will enter the IP address.
The vCenter server username.
And the vCenter server password.
I'm also given the option to check vCenter server is running as a VM.
In my case, vCenter server is running as a VM,
so I will select that and click Next to continue.
In this window, I must select my UPS configuration.
Options presented are single, redundant, parallel, advanced.
For more information on any of those particular configurations,
please review the PowerChute network shut down user's guide.
Or you can click on the question mark in the upper right hand corner
to view the help files.
Another option is to click on the i next to the title, which
will present a description of that particular configuration.
Note that if Advanced is selected, I see a message that
says Advanced configuration is not supported if PowerChute network agent
is installed on a virtual machine.
I will select single, since I will be configuring with a single UPS,
and click Next to continue.
In this window, I'm asked to enter a username, password,
and authentication phrase.
The user name used to log into this PowerChute agent
must match the user name PowerChute would use
to access the network management card.
As an example, if the user name assigned to the PowerChute
shut down parameters in the network management card is ABC,
then the user name for this PowerChute agent must be ABC.
If you have an NMC running from older than 6.0, the user name for PowerChute
must match the user name used to log into the network management card.
The password is unique to this PowerChute agent
and does not need to match the network management card.
The authentication phrase does need to match your authentication phrase
entered on the network management card.
The default authentication phrase is "admin user phrase."
Since the phrase has not been changed on the network management card
from the default, I will leave the phrase
as it has been pre-entered for me.
To verify the user name that I must use, I
will log into my network management card.
Go to Configuration.
Shut down.
Scroll to the bottom of the page.
Here I'll find the user name and authentication
phrase that should be used with the PowerChute agent.
The default user of ABC is in use, along with the default authentication
phrase of "admin user phrase."
So back in the PowerChute set up, I will enter the user name of ABC.
Enter the password I would like to use.
Again, I'll use the default setting of "admin user
phrase" for the authentication phrase and click Next to continue.
In this window, I will enter the IP address of the network management card
PowerChute will be communicating with.
And click Next to continue.
I am now asked to verify the communications
information between PowerChute and network management card
and click Apply.
PowerChute will attempt to communicate with the network management card
and I now see that communications has been established.
So I'll click Next to continue.
In this window, I'm asked to please select the hosts that
are being powered by the UPS.
I'm going to select 10.201.44.22 and 10.208.44.23.
And click Next to continue.
Since the UPS that I'm configuring is a smart UPS SMX
1500, that UPS has outlet groups.
So I'm asked to select the outlet group that the hosts are plugged in to.
If my UPS did not have outlet groups, I would not see this screen.
I will select outlet group number one, since that's
the outlet group that the hosts are plugged in to,
and click Apply to continue.
Once PowerChute has registered with that outlet group,
I will click Next to continue.
In this window, I'll configure the virtualization settings.
My options are virtual machine migration, virtual machine shutdown
startup, V app shut down startup, vCenter server VM shut down,
v sphere plug-in, all hosts online prior to startup.
For more information on any of these settings,
please click on the question mark in the upper right hand corner
or click on the question mark next to the heading, which will launch
a description of that particular topic.
I strongly recommend reviewing Schneider Electric Application Note 180.
That describes the PowerChute network shut down and start up
process for VM ware.
Here on page 4, I see my particular configuration,
where I have PowerChute running as a VM and vCenter server is running as a VM.
As signified by the PowerChute and vCenter server icons.
Also in the diagram, I see that there is a single UPS configuration.
Down here, I see the shutdown sequence that
tells me that after the UPS has been reported on battery,
the shutdown delays have happened, PowerChute
will start maintenance mode in each host.
At that time, it sends a command to turn off the UPS for the outlet groups.
PowerChute then starts the VM shut down, followed by the app shut down.
The app shutdown duration elapses and PowerChute you gracefully shuts down
the vCenter server VM. vCenter server VM duration elapses,
and PowerChute starts executing any command files that need to be run.
Once the command file time has elapsed, PowerChute
starts shutting down the VMware host, using the order the VM host protection
page.
The host running vCenter is shutdown second
to last before the hosts running PowerChute.
PowerChute waits for the greater of low battery duration,
maximum required delays, for non outlet group [INAUDIBLE] UPS's.
Or the outlet group power off delay for UPS's with available outlet groups.
It then turns the UPS off.
For the startup process, it's described, input power's restored,
PowerChute waits for the remaining hosts to power back on.
PowerChute starts vCenter server.
It then waits for ant vApps to be started,
and then finally, the VMs are started.
The first setting is VM migration.
VM migration is, PowerChute shoot will migrate
any of the virtual machines that are running to an available host
if the hosts that they are running on is going to be powered down.
I will not be utilizing this so I will not check it.
The next option is virtual machine shutdown startup.
I do want my virtual machines to be shut down by PowerChute and started up.
So I will select both of these.
The next option is vApp shut down startup.
I will not be using vApp shut down and start up, so I will not select this.
The next option is vCenter server VM shut down.
The default delay is 240 seconds.
So as mentioned earlier, the way this will work
is that after the UPS has been on battery,
and when it tells PowerChute to start a shutdown,
it will first start the virtual machine shutdown process.
It will then start vApp shutdown process.
Wait any of the delays that have been set for that,
it will then tell vCenter server to begin the shutdown process.
It will then wait 240 seconds before it begins the whole shutdown process.
The next setting is vSphere plug-in.
vSphere plug-in puts the PowerChute icon in the vSphere web client home page,
allowing you to launch directly to PowerChute from the vSphere web client.
I will not be utilizing this.
And finally, all hosts online prior to startup.
How this works is that PowerChute will wait for all
hosts to be online before VM vApp startup process starts.
I will be selecting this.
And click Next to continue.
I'm now asked to verify the settings that I have configured
and click Next to continue.
In this window, I'm given three options--
do not turn off the UPS, turn off the UPS, turn off the UPS outlet group.
That particular outlet group would be the outlet group
that I configured earlier.
The reason for this is to allow for automatic restart of the host servers
when power is restored after a power failure.
I will select turn off the UPS so the entire UPS will be turned off,
and then, when AC is restored, it will turn back on, therefore,
will restore power to the host servers, which will then restart.
And click Next to continue.
I'm now given the option to click here for more information on configuring
shutdown events or to click Finish.
I will click Finish to log into the PowerChute network shutdown web
interface.
Now that I've logged into the PowerChute network shutdown web interface,
I see the event log, which shows me the events that
have occurred since I first installed the PowerChute network shutdown
virtual appliance on my host.
I will create another video at a later date
that walks through each of the PowerChute network shut down
menu items.
Thank you for watching.
I hope this video has been helpful.